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Baby strollers at Soldier Field just walk away

September 11, 2005|By Jon Yates, Tribune staff reporter

Want to bring your baby stroller to Soldier Field for a Bears game? You'd better buy club level seats.

Otherwise, you could wind up like Tysen Anne Nowak, who brought her stroller to the stadium for the Sept. 1 preseason game against the Cleveland Browns, but was forced to leave it outside when a ticket taker told her it was not allowed in.

As Nowak and her family watched the Bears lose 16-6, the Nowaks suffered their own loss--someone stole their unprotected $90 Maclaren stroller.

Nowak, who e-mailed What's Your Problem, said she was told by stadium security that Soldier Field not only prohibits strollers, but has no place to store them.

The 30-year-old Chicago mother said she was left with two options. Because she had taken the train in from Portage Park, returning the stroller home would have taken so much time, she would have missed most of the game. She chose option two: leaving it unattended outside the gate, along with about a half-dozen other strollers.

"I guess I had this idea that it would still be there," Nowak said.

After the game, she walked outside to find the area "stripped clean"--all of the strollers were gone.

After a fruitless half-hour search of Soldier Field's lost-and-found, Nowak and her husband carried their tired, squirming 2-year-old daughter, Maura, back home on the train.

Bears officials say they will look into it. When a Tribune Problem Solver called and asked about their stroller policy last week, spokesman Scott Hagel said strollers are clearly listed as "prohibited" along with about 20 other items on the team's Web site. Hagel said the list is also posted on notices in the parking lot and contained in letters sent to all season ticket holders.

"Our response is to never leave something unattended outside," Hagel said. "I'd say it's unfortunate and we try to do everything we can to avoid those situations from occurring on game days. It's not our goal to have people have to make a decision at the gate like that."

Not all fans have to. Bears fans who buy $202-and-up club level seats are allowed to bring strollers because there is more room at that level, Hagel said. Club level fans also have a concierge service with which they can check their strollers, a benefit for those who shell out for prime seats.

Other Chicago-area teams have their own stroller provisions, but do not restrict the service to club-only patrons. The White Sox allow strollers into U.S. Cellular Field, but ask fans to bring smaller, "umbrella-type" strollers. Sox fans can also check their strollers at guest-relations booths at the stadium.

So can Cubs fans at Wrigley Field. And Blackhawks and Bulls fans at the United Center.

The only major-league team in town without stroller-checking facilities for fans like the Nowaks is the Bears.

Nowak, who was using her father's season tickets, said she had no idea before attending the game that strollers were prohibited.

She e-mailed the Bears to complain and spoke with Bob Laskowski, stadium services manager, who told her it would be discussed with team management.

"I wanted her to know we care," Laskowski told the Tribune Friday.

Hagel told the Problem Solver that the stroller policy will be discussed with the stadium's management company, SMG Inc., but he made no promises.

"We do everything we can to make (Bears games) fan or family friendly," Hagel said. He cited the team's fan convention, training camp and other activities through which the Bears reach out to the community.

The Bears, who open the season at Washington on Sunday, do not return to Soldier Field until Sept. 18 against Detroit.

Nowak said she was satisfied with the Bears' response but remained doubtful that the policy on strollers would change. She said there is simply too much bureaucracy involved.

"I would really like to see some sort of holding area so no other family would have to go through this," she said.

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THE PROBLEM

Tysen Anne Nowak had her $90 baby stroller stolen after she was not allowed to bring it inside Soldier Field during a Bears preseason game.

THE OUTCOME

The Bears say the will look into changing their policy, but make no promises. They say Nowak should have known strollers were prohibited.

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